Are nicknames titles?

               I am sort of inclined to believe they are somehow. Sometimes a player is so good that it is not to enough to say he is a grandmaster and world champion. Thus Gary Kasparov became "the monster with 1000 eyes" and "the beast from Baku" Other players play so imaginatively that something must be said to signify this. Mikhail Tal then becomes the "magician of Riga" and Topalov "the wizard" Then the way some players play one is reminded of great players of the past. Steinitz became "the austrian morphy" and Portisch became "the hungarian Botvinnik." Sometimes a nickname simply summarizes a player's career. Paul Morphy is "the pride and sorrow of chess" and Paul Keres is "the uncrowned king" Some nicknames celebrate some specific accomplishment. Thus Pillsbury became "the hero of hastings" for winning the Hastings tournament in 1895 and Walter Brown became "Mr 6 time" for winning the US championship 6 times.

            The cool thing about nicknames is that you don't have to be a grandmaster to have a nickname. Older players who are still successful in the events they play in are often referred to as "old wolves" And young women who show some talent for the game are called "princess warriors" Then there can be some reference to some player in the past. The late FM Ken Smith was referred to as "the capablanca of the cattle country" Then there can be a play on someone's last name. When I played a lot in the old chess center in Atlanta, they used to call me Stacker and say I stacked up the wins and stacked up my opponents. It has been a while since someone has called me Stacker though. I would like to revive that nickname and maybe earn some additional ones but I think it will be necessary to return to OTB chess. The love for the game and a certain energy for chess has to be evident to earn a nickname I think and probably that can only really happen over the board, so I will probably return to OTB play soon.